The Blame Thread - Offense/Defense/Coaching/Brady

[pheenix11]

Seems to me that the only place you can find the offense in the 2nd half of games is on a milk carton.

 

[LXPX]

The offensive coaching is answer for me. When has so much talent been so wasted?
===============================================================
THE DEFENSE
They are what they were expected to be. They are a young, inexperienced, improving defense who is a top 10 defense or close. Miami scored 22 points against them. They gave the ball back to the offense plenty of time this season only to lose so many times now. The only game the defense didn't keep under control was the game against New Orleans. And even then, the mistakes by the offense didn't help.

THE OFFENSE
The talent is there, much better than in the Super Bowl winning years. As was posted, the change happened in 2007. All of a sudden this is a pass-only team, depending on the long ball, with an offense geared to produce great stats. The offense just doesn't seem to be able to finish games. We have blown more 2nd half leads this year than in all the rest of the Belichick era.

The talent is there. We have a great QB and great receivers. Even Aiken was open for 2 TD plays, one of which Brady couldn't get to him. Aiken has played pretty well. Today, he was drawing double teams! Watson and Baker are arguably the best pair of TE's we've had under Belichick. The running backs are better than some years, but not as good as when we had Dillon. The offensive line is our best in decades.

COACHING
First, the team doesn't play with heart. They blow leads. They look aweful in road games. And they are unprepared to play a weak Miami team, even after a loss.

Many don't like the defensive coaching. I think that we could do better than Pees, but he is doing well having a top 10 defense, given the talent and experience that he has (and given that had Seymour taken away).

The offensive coaching is the worst I've ever seen for the patriots, certainly the worst since the Krafts took over. Where are the screen plays? Where are the reverses? Where are the short passes to the running back out of the backfield? Where are the short, medium and long passes to the tight ends? This offense seems to wants to win everthing with big long plays by Moss and Welker. Moss doesn't have to hug the sideline! What happened to the rest of the playbook? Is there any doubt that a West Coast offense with the occasional long pass would be much better than what we have seen?

This team may be constructed like the colts teams of the decade that we seem to hate so much. However, those teams succeeded when their top receivers were double teamed. They (and we) had so many more weapons than two top receivers.

The patriots have won the Super Bowl with poor offensive lines, with poor running games and with poor receivers. Belichick must be very frustrated to have given Brady all that he has and still see the offense perform as it has.

And I must say something about our co-Offensive Coordinator Tom Brady. I think he likes the long-ball offense. I think that he has trained O'Brian so that O'Brain and he are on the same page as well as Moss and Welker. Yes, ultimately the fault is Belichick's.

Great post. I voted coaching too.

There is great talent being wasted.

BUT, I totally disagree about "The offensive line is our best in decades". The OL has played poorly , with a few bright games.

Did you see how that great OL couldn't stop a fierceful THREE man rush on the last play today with SIX guys?

Honestly that's the most pathetic effort I have ever seen from anyone on this team. As Kontra has said a bunch of times, for some reasonKazcur and Koppen suck big time when Neal is not with them. And they're not very good when he is in there, either.

 

[mgteich]

Please tell me when the patriots have had a better OL so that we can compare.

Great post. I voted coaching too.

There is great talent being wasted.

BUT, I totally disagree about "The offensive line is our best in decades". The OL has played poorly , with a few bright games.

Did you see how that great OL couldn't stop a fierceful THREE man rush on the last play today with SIX guys?

Honestly that's the most pathetic effort I have ever seen from anyone on this team. As Kontra has said a bunch of times, for some reasonKazcur and Koppen suck big time when Neal is not with them. And they're not very good when he is in there, either.

 

[pheenix11]

1. offensive line sucks

2. offensive play calling sucks

3. Brady is bomb happy and forcing the ball

4. pass rush is mediocre


Overall the defense isn't that bad, we just need someone who can get some pressure on the QB. Offense is the biggest waste of talent I have ever seen. It is a sin the production we get from this offense.

Anyone remember how we won SB36? Short/medium passes to move down the field into FG position. Now it seems like every time we need to comeback its BOMBS AWAY and Brady overthrows whoever is open. This started in SB42 and continues to this day.

 

[mayoclinic]

The offensive coaching is answer for me. When has so much talent been so wasted?
===============================================================
THE DEFENSE
They are what they were expected to be. They are a young, inexperienced, improving defense who is a top 10 defense or close. Miami scored 22 points against them. They gave the ball back to the offense plenty of time this season only to lose so many times now. The only game the defense didn't keep under control was the game against New Orleans. And even then, the mistakes by the offense didn't help.

THE OFFENSE
The talent is there, much better than in the Super Bowl winning years. As was posted, the change happened in 2007. All of a sudden this is a pass-only team, depending on the long ball, with an offense geared to produce great stats. The offense just doesn't seem to be able to finish games. We have blown more 2nd half leads this year than in all the rest of the Belichick era.

The talent is there. We have a great QB and great receivers. Even Aiken was open for 2 TD plays, one of which Brady couldn't get to him. Aiken has played pretty well. Today, he was drawing double teams! Watson and Baker are arguably the best pair of TE's we've had under Belichick. The running backs are better than some years, but not as good as when we had Dillon. The offensive line is our best in decades.

COACHING
First, the team doesn't play with heart. They blow leads. They look aweful in road games. And they are unprepared to play a weak Miami team, even after a loss.

Many don't like the defensive coaching. I think that we could do better than Pees, but he is doing well having a top 10 defense, given the talent and experience that he has (and given that had Seymour taken away).

The offensive coaching is the worst I've ever seen for the patriots, certainly the worst since the Krafts took over. Where are the screen plays? Where are the reverses? Where are the short passes to the running back out of the backfield? Where are the short, medium and long passes to the tight ends? This offense seems to wants to win everthing with big long plays by Moss and Welker. Moss doesn't have to hug the sideline! What happened to the rest of the playbook? Is there any doubt that a West Coast offense with the occasional long pass would be much better than what we have seen?

This team may be constructed like the colts teams of the decade that we seem to hate so much. However, those teams succeeded when their top receivers were double teamed. They (and we) had so many more weapons than two top receivers.

The patriots have won the Super Bowl with poor offensive lines, with poor running games and with poor receivers. Belichick must be very frustrated to have given Brady all that he has and still see the offense perform as it has.

And I must say something about our co-Offensive Coordinator Tom Brady. I think he likes the long-ball offense. I think that he has trained O'Brian so that O'Brain and he are on the same page as well as Moss and Welker. Yes, ultimately the fault is Belichick's.

Great post.

The major problems with the defense have been inexperience and lack of a pass rush. I'm not a fan of Dean Pees and his coaching style, and I think we could be more creative and aggressive on defense, but overall I think the defense is holding it's own given it's youth, inexperience, and limitations.

The offense is underperforming horribly, and it's a combination of player performance and coaching/scheme. And, much as I hate to say it, Brady is the #1 culprit. He's become predictable and focused on the long ball. I hate the bleeping shotgun - it kills drives on 3rd down. It's often successful on 1st and 2nd down, but it is way too predictable. Brady focused too much on Moss and Welker, and defenses are able to scheme and take them out of the game. 10 of Brady's 19 completions went to Wes Welker; Welker was targeted on 13 of 29 passing attempts. Welker's a great player, but that's just not acceptable ball distribution to me. Brady has shown a lack of patience and too much propensity to go for the deep ball (best exemplified by the 3 incompletions into the end zone against the Saints at the end of the first half, when even a field goal would have given us some momentum going into the 2nd half).

This team is uncharacteristic of Pats teams. It's lost 2 in a row for the first time since November 2006 (and since 2002 before that). We've lost the opening game in December (when we normally peak) for the first time in BB's 10 year tenure here. We've failed to execute in the red zone, killed drives with penalties and turnovers, blown 2nd half leads, used poor clock and game management strategy inside the 2 minute warning, failed to win on the road, performed poorly overall in the 2nd half and failed to play for a full 60 minutes all year long. And most importantly, we haven't played with heart, and we haven't made consistent adjustments 3/4 of the way through the season. Those are not characteristic of Pats teams of the past, and those things speak to a major coaching and leadership breakdown.

It starts at the top. And BB and TB are at the top, make no mistake about it. It's been a glorious decade, and they've been the best of the best. But not this year.

 

[The_Chuck_Rule]

Offensive Line.
I'm sorry, but anytime you rush 3 guys on defense against "5" Lineman and "Get Pressure" on the QB....You got BIG problems.

 

[Nikolai]

I considered putting Brady or the offense down, but I really do think this one comes down to coaching. People rightfully are down on the offensive playcalling but I think this is only part of the problem.

1. Poor fundamentals - Below average open-field tackling, pre-snap penalties, and Brady's throwing mechanics are some of the problems that are plaguing this team. These are coaching problems, pure and simple. I can't say for sure what's going on during the course of a Pats practice, but it might be time to simplify the regimen and get the team back to executing fundamentals. One of the hallmarks of the great Patriot teams was that they never beat themselves, and that had everything to do with sound fundamentals. This is problem numero uno for me. Fix the fundamentals and the Saints don't rack up 50+ plays, the Dolphins fail to convert some of those 1st downs, and the offense doesn't cannibalize its own drives with silly 5-yard pre-snap penalties.

2. Mental toughness - Sure, some of this has to do with having so many youngsters on defense, but the offense has some mental toughness issues as well. Part of the problem here does stem from losing the Harrsion, Bruschi, and Vrabel types. I don't know how the kids view Brady and Moss right now, but I don't like what I see on the sidelines and on the field from these two. When leadership is missing from the ranks, the top guys have to step in and it's that time for the coaching staff, starting with BB. What I'm worried about is that the mental blocks are starting to translate into a lost locker room.

3. Gametime adjustments - There simply has to be a plan in place for doing something other than throwing to Welker and Moss. Brady did try to get the ball to Aiken, which wasn't an altogether bad move, but it's time to spread the wealth again. I do support the idea of going to your horses, but you only do that until the D takes them away. Then, you take what you can get. Watson, Baker, Aiken, and (later) Edelman give Brady many more options. They may not be world-beaters, but they're better than his 3rd+ WR/TE options during the Super Bowl years. Use these guys.

It seems that the gameplan doesn't really change on the offensive side of the ball from Quarter 1 to Quarter 4 and the results are predictable. If in-game adjustments are going to be that much of a problem, maybe it's time to have a variable gameplan from the beginning.

Further, the pass blocking schemes do not adjust with the defensive adjustments. It would be good to see some more creativity in the blocking schemes if that's what it takes.

4. Offensive playcalling - This one has been beat to death here already with good reason. Maroney may not be Chris Johnson, but he's gotten a lot better lately. We've got to ride this horse right now and use that to set up the play action. When Taylor makes his way back in, this is even more essential. It's time to grow up beyond the need to have Tom Brady put the game on his shoulders.

That said, I've noticed Pees dialing up more pressure. Good on him, I guess.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

I think its all around, but the team used to be mentally tough, they used to win games like that , indy and denver... The second half and the failures on the road and the mental errors I would have to put all on the coaching..

 

[102 Pat]

I put a vote in for defence, they just can't seem to get any pressure on the QB's at all. Look at last weeks game against the Saints, the first time they touched Brees was the 3rd quarter...

 

[Rob0729]

I think that you need to be a little careful with 2007 stats. A lot of the running came after we were well ahead in games.

Even so, it still wouldn't be as much passing as we did in 2002 when the Pats rarely ran the ball in the second half of games.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I think its all around, but the team used to be mentally tough, they used to win games like that , indy and denver... The second half and the failures on the road and the mental errors I would have to put all on the coaching..

Agreed. It is all-around. They haven't lost just one way this year. Offense, defense, playcalling, lack of adjustements, execution. It's been a myriad of issues.

 

[sieglo]

When you run an offense with two major options (Moss and Welker) and one of those guys decides to pack it in, you are not going to have a lot of success. The coaches need to see this and adjust.

 

[italian pat patriot]

i'm for all of them too

 

[chevss454]

OMG, where to start!

Coaching: All we needed was 1 maybe 2 first downs with 5mins to play to run out the clock...poor play calling led to 3 and out!! The defensive scheme is soooo passive. No pressure on Henne. Give any qb 5-8 secs and he will complete a pass to someone even against the very best defensive backs. Dont be so quick to blame our db's.

Solution: Pees and O'brien must go. BB is proven but please get good coordinators with some basic knowledge of winning football.

The players: The offensive line is overrated, especially the right side. Kaczur is a journeyman. Vollmer is a rookie but is already better than Light. The OL is below average as a run-blocking unit and only average at pass-blocking. 3 passrushers get consistent pressure on Brady but our DL cant get any pass rush pressure whatsoever. Sad.

 

[Patsrock]

Where are all the Josh McDaniels play calling is horrible people? Bill O'Brien is horrible and why do they all but abandon the screen play when it works.

 

[GaryfromTO]

Play calling.

It seems like that Patriots have only have 5 plays in their book now. They either hand off to Maroney or Faulk, Screen pass to Welker, throw over the middle to Welker and deep to Moss.

What made the past Pats team so dangerous and dymanic was you never knew what they would do on offense. They spread the ball all over the field. now it's just those same 5 plays over and over and over again.

Hire back Weiss and let Bill take over the defenisve side of the coaching.

 

[DougFlutie]

Where are all the Josh McDaniels play calling is horrible people? Bill O'Brien is horrible and why do they all but abandon the screen play when it works.

McDaniels' play calling is light years better in comparison to O'Brien, but it just goes to show how much impact a bad coordinator can have on a team. This team's talent is not a 7-5 team, it is underachieving.

 

[PatsDeb]

That's not playcalling, deb. It's a head coaching decision on every team in the league... Belichick is signing off on Kraft paying Randy $9M per which among other things makes the decision to throw the ball rather than run it a pre determined, philosophical one.

Brady deserved better weapons than Reche Caldwell and draft busts and street jags. However the pendulum can swing too far in the other direction as it may have in 2007. Tom has always said that how they score doesn't matter to him as long as they do. It would seem since 2007 there is an institutional bias here towards scoring through the air. At first it was fun. But now it's a struggle. And you have to wonder why they keep at it unless there remains an institutional determination to prove it can work. And maybe it can if you have multiple weapons that function on a par, like say Brees. But here we seem to be down to two and only one of them tends to beat the odds most weeks.

I hate to say it, (and I already said it in another thread), but it seems having Randy Moss on the team has, over time, made Tom Brady a worse player. He used to be able to quickly check down on all his potential receivers and throw to the open one, even if there was a lot of pressure on him. That's what made this team tick. Now it seems like he "has" to get it to Moss, so instead of looking for the guy who's open (and let's face it, if THREE guys are on Moss, SOMEBODY ELSE is open), he tries to heave it into triple coverage and hope for the best. Don't tell me he doesn't have other weapons. Brady has made it for years with jags, and he still has Watson, Faulk, Baker, even Maroney. They (meaning the coaches, Brady, etc.) don't even bother to look for these guys on plays any more.

Moss was great his first year and outran and outjumped lots of defenders. Now he's older and has either lost a step, or maybe Brady has, who knows? I don't think Moss is dogging it, and I certainly don't think Brady is, but THE PATS CAN"T ADJUST!! I remarked to my husband that they should just take Randy Moss (and maybe Welker on those 3rd and 4s that you know are going his way) off the field so they can recover their brains and their creativity. Having all those jags made Brady and the coaches consider each one on every play. Having Moss (and Welker, although as you point out, at least he is still able to get it done) makes them have tunnel vision and we are now paying the price as there is a lot less light at the end of the tunnel.

I don't know whether this is BB, the offensive coordinator or Brady, and it's probably some combination of the 3, but they are making me crazy. This was the 2nd game of the year (the 1st one being the Indy game) that I thought the COACHES gave to the other team. It's maddening after our coaches have been so great for so many years.

 

[PatsDeb]

Play calling.

It seems like that Patriots have only have 5 plays in their book now. They either hand off to Maroney or Faulk, Screen pass to Welker, throw over the middle to Welker and deep to Moss.

What made the past Pats team so dangerous and dymanic was you never knew what they would do on offense. They spread the ball all over the field. now it's just those same 5 plays over and over and over again.

Hire back Weiss and let Bill take over the defenisve side of the coaching.

Agreed. Now the Panthers have our game plan.

 

[QuinielaBox]

Re: The Blame Thread - Offense/Defense/Coaching

Ultimately, poor talent on the Offensive Line and the defense line. We lost this in the trenches yesterday as attested to by lack of red zone production on both ends. Also I think you can call out the coaching stiffs for not taking the points and going for it on 4th down in the 2nd Qtr. The team is not complete and will be eliminated by January 11, 2010.